Annie Lang's Blog!

As one of my favorite holidays approaches, it's time to start planning our Thanksgiving feast.  This year, I had a little help from my 4 year old granddaughter who helped create turkey napkin holder place settings for each guest.  With a few basic supplies and a sky filled with blustery snow flurries, we completed this project together and had a lot of fun chatting about our many family blessings.  So go right ahead and invite a turkey to dinner this year.  I hope you'll give this fun project a try and enjoy the smiles! 

Thanks to Jackson and Owen's Mom sending me this photo, this pair of busy little bookworms have now been added to my "Bookworm Gallery". You'll find this adorable Bookworm in Annie Lang's storybooks, papercraft activity books, Draw Silly video, clipart, merchandise products and fabric prints.  Join the club and discover just how inspiring these friendly little characters are...because Annie Things Possible when you're a Bookworm !

It started out as a beautiful day in the garden until the chatter got a bit out of control!  Find out how all the commotion unexpectedly turns this peaceful garden all topsy-turvy as the news of the day quickly spreads throughout this delightfully illustrated children's book. Young readers will quickly engage with vividly detailed characters and imagery as the story unfolds in the garden.   It's a timeless tale of human nature and our need to socially share everything we hear with others.  As is often the case in real life, what starts as a simple observation quickly can turn into a most ridiculous misunderstanding.   " Guess What I Heard Today " is a terrific "read it together"  publication that encourages discussion about how we communicate. Decades ago, my first grade teacher had the class sit in a circle, whisper a sentence into the ear of the student beside us as we passed our "secret sentence" from person to person.  We were totally amazed wh

 " I Found It So I'll Keep It! " is a fun children's story filled with vividly colored whimsical characters with easy to read text for young readers that will keep them engaged with each turn of the page.  Doug the Bug takes a walk and discovers a few lost treasures along the way.  He will eventually face a social and moral challenge as to whether or not he should return lost items to their owners or keep them for himself.  It's a simple life lesson in decision making that we all face from time to time presented in a way that demonstrates that the value of making the right decision can be a reward in and of itself.    This is a great read-it-together book that is sure to spark some very interesting home conversations with inquisitive youngsters.  You can find ordering and book detail page at my Book Store .  Feel free to share this post with your friends and family and I hope you'll ENJOY!

It's a fact that kids find bugs fascinating and this Bug Keeper DIY recycle project is the perfect way for them to keep those bugs under observation.   Older kids will most likely be able to handle this on their own, but supervision may be required for younger children.  This free how-to project only requires a plastic 2 liter bottle,  4" square of nylon mesh screening, a chenille stem, paint pens, 3" sinamay hat, ribbon or felt strip embellishment, glue and scissors to complete.  Here are the step by step how-to instructions along with the face template for the pictured Bottled Up Bug Keeper! NOTE:  You can find sinamay hats at most craft supply stores or just click here to order from Amazon . To download this full size template, right click and SAVE to your computer

Here's a free Happy Kids coloring page for you to enjoy!  Share this link and subscribe to this BLOG so you'll never miss a post.  To download the full size page, just right click the image, save to your computer, print and color.  ENJOY!

Here's a quick, easy and fun way to reward your little helper...because it's the little things mean so much!  All you need to do is download the file from my DIY page, print the file, mount on cardstock and then cut them out.   Enjoy...

Creating magical memories of the Christmas Season can be as simple as reading holiday stories together. I'm gearing up for this Holiday season's classroom reading of my children's book,  A Little Elf Upon a Shelf .  This year, I'll be wearing a "Believe in your Elf" t-shirt along with my elf ears.  All that's left to do is make 30 more sets of "listening ears" and 30 fun kid sized elf projects to top off this year's event!   'Tis the season for sharing a story along with a holiday smile.   You can download your own elf ears papercraft project for free right now.  Wishing you hours and hours of Happy Holiday Reading!

It's time to get your Jolly Jacks on with Annie Lang's fun pumpkin character clipart now available through the Creative Market Store!  They think they can fool us by masquerading trick or treaters, but we all know there's a Jolly Jack character hiding in all of us!

You can make every day a blue ribbon day with Annie Lang's County Fair Kids and County Fair farm themed clipart collections!  Make fun items for yourself, products for the craft booth or items for your online marketplace.  There's a license available for however you'd like to use them from Creative Market who now hosts my digital clipart, prints and fonts collections! 

Whether you make 1 or 100, Kids LOVE making their own cards!  Here's how you can use lineart .pdf pattern books to make cards they can color and share to their heart's delight!  Best of all the designs shown in these samples are all available in Annie's  Sharing Hearts and Loving Smiles pattern book...and it's on sale throughout the month of February.  Enjoy!

Make holiday storytime FUN this year by making these adorable Elf Listening Ears for the kids to wear while reading Annie Lang's Elf Books!  You'll find A Little Elf Upon a Shelf and A Little Elf from Another Shelf available in both paperback and Kindle versions in Annie Lang's Book Store !  When you buy the paperback from Amazon, you can download the Kindle edition for FREE.  Right click the project page below to save the full size page to make your own printable DIY elf ears! Here's a fun Help Yourself Elf Hot Cocoa recipe for a group book reading activity.  Don't forget to let the kids help out and ENJOY!

Here's a quick and easy project you can easily make with the kids on a rainy afternoon! You'll need craft paint, brushes, a small piece of black cardstock or posterboard, scissors and paper mache cone shapes.  I purchased a 6 pack of cones online to use for other character projects like angels, santas, candy corn, pumpkins and ghosts.  I paid half the price for the cones I found at local craft supply stores so buying in bulk was a good choice for me.  Here's a basic step-by step of how I created the Wishing Witch character.  You can add any embellishments or paint colors to make it your own.  So let's get creative and make a wish! You can right click and "save" the free pattern below!  When your witch is finished, just write a wish on a piece of paper, tuck it under the cone and wait for the magic to happen!  Enjoy and feel free to share this link ...

There is a squeaky door that needs fixing, a picture that need hanging, a fence that needs mending, hedges that need trimming, furniture that needs cleaning and a bookshelf that needs to be built.  How will these tasks ever get done?  Don't worry because my Grandma will use her power tools! Read this story and find out just exactly how we can get these problems solved. Young readers will quickly engage with Annie Lang's vividly detailed imagery as a little girl character and her Grandma spend the day together working on projects and fixing "stuff".  Children will learn about common tools in the toolbox, why safety gear is needed and how quickly the day passes when you spend it working together.  "My Grandma Uses Power Tools" is a terrific "read it together" publication that encourages discussion with each turn of the page. Inspired by her granddaughters, this is Annie Lang's ninth indie published children's book title.   In today

When it comes to entertaining kids on a rainy day or finding group activities to keep the party guests entertained, this DIY game is an ideal way to not only keep them busy, but it's educational as well!  All you need are some fabric print swatches or patterned scrap papers, some cardstock, a pair of scissors and a bit of glue (I use spray adhesive). I've included the shape template I created to make my fabric swatch game shapes along with the basic directions.  The first time my 4 year old granddaughter used them, she immediately became engrossed in the colors, patterns and character images that were tossed about the carpet.  It didn't take her long to discover that the game challenge was not just matching single images like store bought card games, but seemed more like giant puzzle piece shapes that could be matched on both sides of each card! I created 20 different fabric card sets and it took her 30-45 minutes to complete the game, making it a perfect activity for G

A trip to Grandma's house always includes at least one fun learning activity and here's a simple project anyone can do together with preschool age kids.  All you need is a handful of pebbles, a bottle of Tacky Glue and a surface like wood or paper mache.  I just happened upon this rustic handmade birdhouse feeder while visiting a local cider mill and it turned out to be the perfect surface for our activity of the day. I began by first applying a coat of Thompson's Clear Wood Sealer to the entire surface and allowing it to dry overnight.  The next day, a pile of pebbles was placed onto our work surface where my granddaughter could select which ones she wanted to use on the birdhouse feeder. A plastic knife was the perfect tool for spreading a thick coat of Tacky Glue onto the wood area to be embellished. Pebbles were placed one by one onto the glue and gently pressed down into place.  Not only were her little fingers kept busy for an hour, but she was more than able to s

Chances are most preschoolers already know the "ABC" song. But when it comes to identifying individual letters out of sequence, they may experience a little difficulty associating the correct letter with a "sound alike" word. While my preschooler granddaughter was visiting, we came up with a fun activity which involved both of us taking snapshots with our digital cameras.  I had her find "alphabet treasures" that we could take photos of as we walked around the house and yard and we snapped away!   In about an hour, we had all the photos we needed so we sat at the computer together and unloaded the digital file that we would save.  I let her be the decision maker as to which ones we wanted to use for her book.  Thus ended the first phase of our project and we then moved on to making lunch! When she returned a few days later, Maryann found that each photo had been placed on a digital document (most likely by the digital fairy!) which featured each lett

New Children's Book Release! Something Weird is Going on Here written and illustrated by Annie Lang Here is a delightful story that will inspire, encourage and help introduce young readers to the wonderful world of books!  Colorful and engaging illustrated images help early learners see how family life quickly changes as seen through the perspective of Meatloaf the cat.  From life at the shelter to the everyday joys of a new home to to addition of a new family member, children will see how Meatloaf the cat adapts to each new "weird" event that comes along.  This is a great read-it-together book that is sure to spark some very interesting home conversations with inquisitive youngsters.  This is Annie's 8th self published children's book title and is available in both paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.com  and many other online book stores.

Create Fun Ears for Elves, Leprechauns and Attentive Readers!  If you're looking for a quick, easy and really fun project, you can print and assemble this project in no time at all! Originally designed as a classroom storytelling prop for my Elf books reading sessions, this project can easily be used to create Leprechaun Ears for St. Patrick's Day or used as a Halloween costume accessory. Here's how to make Leprechaun Ears like the ones Little Emma is modelling for us in the sample photo... 1.  Right click the project page below and save it to your computer. 2.  Print the page.  Apply double sided adhesive to the back of the      page before cutting them out. 3.  To insure the printer ink won't bleed if the ears happened to get wet,      lightly mist with clear sealer or cover them with laminate or clear      Contact (R)  paper. 4.  Apply double sided adhesive to the back of the page before cutting. 5.  Assemble and finish the headband as instructed Ho

Whether you're reading with a youngster one on one or reading to an entire group, bring the story to life and make it a memorable experience by adding a few story activities to enhance the experience!  Here are a few basic ideas you may want to try... Make up 8-10 questions about the story and write each one on a piece of paper. Draw a question and then discuss!  Enhance the story environment!  Relate a scene from the story you are reading by creating a "real life" experience.  For example, if the story is about cookies, you could share a "cookie snack".  If the story is about camping, maybe you could read the story together in a makeshift "tent". How about sharing some "Green Eggs and Ham"? If you're reading one of my Elf books, maybe you'd like to try sharing a cup of cocoa after the story.  I'm sure you can easily imagine all the endless possibilities.   Make a set of "Listening Ears" that you can wear